Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said the quiet part out loud in his Sunday press conference saying that it was very clear that the Buckeyes were not at their best on Saturday night.
Ohio State Buckeyes' head coach Ryan Day immediately stiff armed a question that he received on Sunday morning about the Buckeyes being off and not the Hoosiers being on. He cautioned by saying that he will never not give his opponent credit.
That was followed up with a stern thought on his team.
It is clear that we were not at our best, coaches and players. We need to be moving forward. This is certainly an opportunity for us to learn from that game. When you leave it to one play in all three phases, you put yourself at risk. The idea of 'leaving no doubt' did not happen.
Strong words from a head coach who showed no over-concern about what happened on Saturday night.
A very fair takeaway from Saturday night is that while the Buckeyes lost the game, that was a battle between two evenly matched teams. Indiana hit on three big plays that took them over the top while the Buckeyes sputtered in their clutch situations.
With that being true, the other bit of truth is that the Buckeyes put the entire game on the leg of Jayden Fielding. Certainly, many feel that a 29-yard field goal attempt should be nearly automatic, but the pressure that was put on that kick is tough to be measured.
When each of the players were asked about how they responded to Fielding after the miss, the Buckeyes took accountability for the game, acknowledging that this is a team game and that there were plays to be made all over the field that would have changed the game.
The Buckeyes' offense was the most concerning from the Buckeyes on Saturday night. Twice, they got inside the 10 yard line and came away empty. The bigger concern with this is that this is not a new issue. Several times already this season, the Buckeyes have struggled to score touchdowns in the red zone, and Saturday, it came back to bite them.
What was the biggest issue with the offensive struggles was the apparent plan that the Buckeyes had going into the game. They were convinced that the best option was to live in 12 or 13 personnel, which took receivers off the field.
Ohio State's best players are their receivers, and they were continually not using them in the most high leverage situations. It was a bizarre approach and one that cost the Buckeyes.
All in all, the Buckeyes need to be better when they have the football.
They didn't execute, they didn't have a good plan and it cost them.
The positive is that they are still alive. They have a month to get it corrected, and then the trip to repeat is back on, and they need to be all systems go.